PURPLE HEARTS By Michael Grant

I received this book for free from Reviewer Purchase in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

PURPLE HEARTS By Michael GrantPurple Hearts by Michael Grant
Series: Front Lines #3
Published by Katherine Tegen Books on 1/30/18
Genres: Historical, War, Young Adult
Pages: 576
Format: Hardcover
Source: Reviewer Purchase
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ReviewedbyDani

Courage, sacrifice, and fear have lead Rio, Frangie, and Rainy through front-line battles in North Africa and Sicily, and their missions are not over. These soldiers and thousands of Allies must fight their deadliest battle yet—for their country and their lives—as they descend into the freezing water and onto the treacherous sands of Omaha Beach. It is June 6, 1944. D-Day has arrived.

No longer naive recruits, these soldier girls are now Silver Star recipients and battle-hardened. Others look to them for guidance and confidence, but this is a war that will leave sixty million dead. Flesh will turn to charcoal. Piles will be made of torn limbs. The women must find a way to lead while holding on to their own last shreds of belief in humanity.

Short and Sweet

In this final installment of the Front Lines series, Rainy, Rio, and Frangie, are fighting for their country and the strength to get through the war while remaining sane and keeping their hope in humanity. D-Day arrives and the girls still have a lot left to fight for if they’re going to make it out of this war alive, they’ll be crossing enemy lines and trying to survive.

Characters

Rio: Rio has moved up in ranks and is now a sergeant. In this book Rio struggles with having to keep her platoon alive. Rio is such a strong character and so are all of the other female leads in this series. Rio calls things how she sees them and she’s grown so much through the series and you can tell. I like the fact that she knows that even though she’s a girl and most men won’t take her seriously that she’s still just as powerful as them if not more.

Rainy: Rainy is smart and she always has been. I like Rainy a lot, in this book she’s tasked with finding out where the enemy is going and reporting back to the Army with this information. Rainy has to deal with a traitor and she sees some things that disturb her while on this mission.

Frangie: Frangie our medic. I feel like Frangie has it the worst, even though she’s just a medic and isn’t fighting she sees a lot of the aftermath of the war. She has to tend to soldiers with extreme injuries and she has to go on everyday seeing people die or soldiers intentionally trying to hurt themselves to get out of the war. Frangie does the best that she can and I think she’s great she puts so much effort into helping the soldiers and she has a natural caring nature about her.

Romance

Rio and Strand: This two have been sweethearts before they even got enlisted. I really liked these two together and I was kind of sad to see it fall apart just because Strand was embarrassed by how much better Rio was at being a soldier than he was.

Rio and Jack: Jack is one of the soldiers in Rio’s group and in Silver Stars the two shared a kiss and in this book we can see that they still care about each other.

Frangie and Walter: Walter is a soldier that Frangie sees from time to time. I think these two are really sweet together whenever I read scenes with them I can’t help but to smile.

Final Thoughts

Theres just so much to say about this book. This whole series was amazing the accuracy about things that occurred during WW2 and Grant just captured that beautifully in his writing. Like I said before all of the female leads are such strong women and are determined to fight for their country, I loved getting to read about each of them and follow them on their journeys. I feel like the background characters were great too, especially Jenou I love that she and Rio got to go into this as best friends and it stayed that way throughout the series. This is one of my favorite series and I’m so glad that I read it and I will always recommend this series to friends, so check out the Front Lines trilogy!

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SILVER STARS By Michael Grant

I received this book for free from Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

SILVER STARS By Michael GrantSilver Stars by Michael Grant
Series: Front Lines #2
Published by Katherine Tegen Books on 1/31/17
Genres: Action & Adventure, Historical, Young Adult
Pages: 576
Format: eARC
Source: Publisher
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ReviewedbyDani

The summer of 1943, World War II. With heavy memories of combat, Frangie, Rainy, Rio and the rest of the American army are moving on to their next target: the Italian island of Sicily.

The women won’t conquer Italy alone. They are not heroes for fighting alongside their brothers—they are soldiers. But Frangie, Rainy, Rio, and the millions of brave females fighting for their country have become a symbol in the fight for equality. They will brave terrible conditions in an endless siege; they will fight to find themselves on the front lines of WWII; and they will come face-to-face with the brutality of war until they win or die.

Short and Sweet

Frangie, Rainy, and Rio are back, this statement just makes me happy. These soldiers are on to their next target, Italy, and back to the front lines to sacrifice their lives for their country.

Characters

Rainy: Is given a mission that will in the end help the US Army, which she’s all for because she follows orders, but while she’s on the mission she begins to question if she should have taken the mission in the first place.

Rio: Is on the front lines in battle and has a more prominent role in this book because she’s looked at by everyone on camp as someone who was meant to be a soldier.

Frangie: Is still a medic just trying to do her job trying to save the lives of injured G.I’s if she can and just going where she’s needed.

Romance

There’s not really that much romance in this book. Rio still has her hometown sweetheart, Strand that she talks to via letters, and they do get to meet up at one point in the book. I thought Rainy would have a romantic interest in this book, but boy was I wrong, I was really wrong. I don’t want to spoil anything… While writing this I realized that Rainy was talking to another boy and now I’m questioning myself and if they could have a romantic relationship. Halev are you the one for Rainy? Because C definitely wasn’t.

My Thoughts

~ I loved this book just as much as the first one (Front Lines).

~ Rio, had a lot more page time than the other girls which I didn’t really mind because she had more action going on in her story line.

~ Okay so Rainy has a mission that she goes on in this book which we follow her through the motions. Her story line was interesting but it gets better towards the end of the book. Rainy is intelligent and her knowledge of multiple languages is impressive. By the way after finishing the book I did some research on what Rainy would have went through and its awful.

~ Frangie, I love her so much. She’s caring and she picked a job that suits her strengths. I would say that Frangie’s story line is kind of like Rainy’s it’s interesting but gets better towards the end. I’m glad she got to meet up with a loved one to brighten her mood.

~ I will say that the war has changed these three girls. You can tell it changed Rio in the first book and you get more of that change in this book, shes a little more excited to kill than she was before she killed her first Kraut. I didn’t feel like there was much change with Frangie but she does learn a few things about her family that surprises her. Rainy didn’t have a change until the end of this book which was understandable especially with what she had to endure.

~ Rio is really the only one in this series who has a best friend with her in the war, Jenou. I like that she has a friend with her but I was upset by the strain that their friendship was going through.

~ My favorite thing about these books is when the girls meet and have interactions. It happened in Front Lines and it happened in this book too. I love how they remember each other and are friendly.

~ Michael Grant does a GREAT job writing this series. He definitely does his research and makes this series so true to the time it’s placed in. When reading this book it feels like you’re transported to the front lines with these girls and seeing what they see and feeling how they feel.

Overall

I love love love this series its one of my favorites! I want the third book now, just to see the next mission these girls will have to tackle. If you haven’t read Front Lines you should, and then pick up Silver Stars, because these books do not disappoint! I would recommend this series in a heartbeat, so if you like action and historical fiction with details that make you feel like you’re there then this series is for you!!!

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FRONT LINES By Michael Grant

I received this book for free from Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

FRONT LINES By Michael GrantFront Lines by Michael Grant
Series: Front Lines #1
Published by Katherine Tegen Books on 1/26/16
Genres: Action & Adventure, Historical, Young Adult
Pages: 576
Source: Publisher
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ReviewedbyDani

World War II, 1942. A court decision makes women subject to the draft and eligible for service. The unproven American army is going up against the greatest fighting force ever assembled, the armed forces of Nazi Germany.

Three girls sign up to fight. Rio Richlin, Frangie Marr, and Rainy Schulterman are average girls, girls with dreams and aspirations, at the start of their lives, at the start of their loves. Each has her own reasons for volunteering: Rio fights to honor her sister; Frangie needs money for her family; Rainy wants to kill Germans. For the first time they leave behind their homes and families—to go to war.

These three daring young women will play their parts in the war to defeat evil and save the human race. As the fate of the world hangs in the balance, they will discover the roles that define them on the front lines. They will fight the greatest war the world has ever known.

Michael Grant’s first Soldier Girl novel Front Lines is a war story that packs a lot of punch, combining historical fact with an alternate version of history in which a court decision makes American women subject to the draft and eligible to fight on the front lines. Not only has Grant imagined army life and conditions from the POV of three different female soldiers, but he also factors in race and the effect this would have had in the early 1940s. Rio Richlin is a white female from small town California, Frangie Marr is an African-American from Oklahoma, and Rainy Schulterman is a Jewish girl from New York City. It’s actually rare that someone remembers that the story of gender injustice and sexism is not the same across all women. The characters themselves are sympathetic, realistic and flawed. Each has a distinct personality, her own ambition, and her own reason for being there. As with male soldiers, some of these female soldiers were eager to fight and prove themselves, others were desperate for an army paycheck. Grant also pays attention to his secondary characters, creating people who bring humor, distaste and flirtations to the mix. The alternate history is fascinating enough, but it’s the characters that truly suck the reader in. They are so real. They are so perfectly written, so true to the past, while also feeling relevant. The pacing of the book was wonderful, and I was hooked from the very beginning. There’s lots of action with a side of romance and plenty of character growth. I also really liked the authenticity of the history and the nostalgic feel of the time period. Grant tells the story in three alternating points of view, and they really contribute and round out the story. The story is ultimately told from one person writing out the events and ruminating and guessing in areas; it lends a bit of mystery to the story. I really want to know who’s actually telling the story. This book does eventually focus on war and the front lines, and I think this has to be my favorite part of the novel. In this second half of the novel we really see the main characters change their perspectives on life and humanity. It’s utterly fascinating and so well written. It’s a bit sad but completely absorbing at the same time. Front Lines has left me wanting more and now I’m counting down the days until book two comes out!

Captivating and Epic Front Lines Gets six Wonderland Hearts!

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